Three Freds – Martyred Pioneers for Christ in Brazil
These are the stories of Fred Wright, Fred Dawson and Fred Roberts, who all lost their lives in the cause of the Gospel in the jungles of Brazil. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing a copy of the book for digitisation. This book is in the public domain.
William John Waterman Roome [1865-1937], The Three Freds. Martyred Pioneers For Christ in Brazil. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott Ltd., 1937. Pbk. pp.125. [Click to download complete book in PDF]
Contents
Foreword
- “In the Train of His Triumph”
- Pioneering Amidst Primeval Forests
- The Call of Amazonia!
- Launching the Venture
- Facing the Foe!
- Giving the Word
- Buried Seeds!
- Gathered Fruit!
- Searching Out the Kayapos
- “Their Name Liveth For Evermore”
Epiloque
The book contained an interesting piece of ephemera – a promotional bookmark – which I have reproduced below right.
Foreword
The “Three Freds” both in life and death, showed that certain strong principles governed their lives. We would do well to consider these in relation to our own lives, as we read this book.
They did not say with Jacob, “If God… will keep me in the way… so that I come again in peace… then shall the Lord be my God.” But in glad abandon they committed their lives to do His will, although it meant death.
These men, seeing the possibility of death, bequeathed their kit to those who should follow them and evangelise the Kayapo. They understood the value of the souls of the wild Indians of the forest for whom Christ died.
They realised they might never complete, or even begin, the work; so great was the danger. Yet they believed God would fulfil His promise that some from every tribe would be around the Throne; and were ready to die in faith, not having received the promises but being persuaded of them. They considered obedience to God’s call their duty; and they left the issue with Him to raise up others to fulfil the work. [Continue reading]
The three Freds were part of my early childhood memories in the 1960s, and their story was a component of my first understanding of what it meant to embrace, outside of the circumstances that I knew as my own, the faith I was growing up with. My mother had heard Fred Wright speaking in Victoria Memorial Hall in Belfast shortly before he left for Brazil, when she was in her mid-teens. The book was in our family home and I think I still have it.